This is a Mother of Pearl Needle Box from the Victorian era. I believe it belonged to one of my Great Grandmother's in the later 1800s. It was past down to me when they cleaned out and sold a house on the shore belonging to my family in Maryland. This was your typical summer home with lots of older un-matching furniture that was a collection of random items people donated to put together the house for summer use. I am guessing this was just a needle box used for sewing while there during the summer.

It is missing some of the panels on top and one of the bone (or ivory?) feet is repaired/replaced with a screw (typical engineering family...no fluff). The trim on the inside of the box is also brittle and cracked and missing some pieces. It is lined with a really pretty pattern of green semi-shiny material.

Ironically it didn't have needles inside. It was holding a large handful of "mica" that someone had collected somewhere near the river, I guess.